News.com.au wins at the 14th Annual AIMIA awards

News.com.au wins at the 14th annual AIMIA awards - 'A culture in crisis' - takes home best news, media or reference prize 

News Digital Media news and weather website, NEWS.com.au, has won in the Best News, Media or Reference category for their special multimedia investigation, ‘A Culture in Crisis’, at the 14th annual Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) awards.

‘A Culture in Crisis’, an interactive feature investigating problems affecting indigenous culture, defeated fellow News Digital Media nominee, NEWS.com.au’s Election 2007 Vote-a-matic as well as three ABC produced entires: ABC News online, elections website; ABC Now and ABC
News online at the awards on Friday evening.

“It is an absolute honour to win in the Best News, Media or Reference category at the prestigious, AIMIA awards,” Michael Robinson, chief executive officer, media, News Digital Media said.

“We are very proud of A Culture in Crisis which represents fantastic interactive content by our editorial team. Receiving this sort of industry recognition in the interactive and multimedia industry is a fantastic result for NEWS.com.au which continues to grow and develop at a
phenomenal rate.” ‘A Culture in Crisis’ was specially developed online featuring video interviews from the Top End, reporting on child sex abuse, domestic violence and health problems affecting Australia’s indigenous people.

The judges’ comments described ‘A Culture in Crisis’ as an “excellent idea” with “very rich content links.” Overall, “a very commendable effort”.
Sigrid Kirk, group publisher, News Digital Media added: “Winning this award is a credit to the whole NEWS.com.au team and reflects on our dedication to quality journalism in today’s digital age.”

Senior video producer Aysha Leo and multimedia producer Irena Macri accepted the award for NEWS.com.au in front of more than 300 guests at the function held at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA). The awards attracted more than 410 entires across 22 categories.

Along with the two nominations in the Best News, Media or Reference category, News Digital Media also received AIMIA nominations in the following:

• NEWS.com.au off-deck mobile site (m.news.com.au) in the Best Cross-Platform Content or Content Integration category
• 1degree.com.au in the Best Science, Health and Environment category
• NEWS.com.au Election 2007 – The Vote-a-matic in the Best News, Media and Reference category
• NEWS.com.au/money in the Best Financial Services category

Receiving six nominations in four categories is a huge achievement for News Digital Media. Following this win, we look forward to continuing our journalistic and multimedia excellence in 2008,” Kirk concluded. To view the ‘A Culture in Crisis’ feature, visit
http://media.news.com.au/multimedia/2007/10/garma/.